Just Water
by manicpixiedreamnope
Summary: He still had that same big, stupid smile on his face. "What are you smiling at?" I queried, bending again. "You?" He said, like it was obvious. "My apologies, Sassenach. I didna know it was against the rules." Fluffy little oneshot as a thank you for all the sweet reviews on my other story!


Hi everyone! I was looking at some of the traffic stats for Failed Attempts and was blown away by how many of you read it! The reviews were all incredibly sweet, and inspired this saccharine, fluffy little thing. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own outlander or any of the characters. If I did, you best believe I wouldn't be in school right now.

It had been a few months, and Jamie and I were transitioning from the "reluctant honeymoon" phase and into a comfortable pattern together.

As comfortable as a wanted man and his time-travelling wife could possibly be, anyway.

Like new shoes, a new relationship needed to be broken in, stretched, creaked and bent a bit around the edges until it could be settled in contentedly. I was pleased, if a bit disconcerted, that we had gotten there so quickly. Frank and I had known each other for years before we reached this point.

It was early April. The sun hadn't made much of an appearance, but the air had become noticeably wetter and the wind had less of a bite. I had apparently traded windblown cheeks, glowing red, for even springier hair that refused to cooperate no matter what I did. This climate spelled trouble, too, for those with rheumatic joints or mold allergies, resulting in far too many massages and sore throats.

I spent most of my time in the surgery, relishing the few minutes I could be outside, in the herb garden. It was flourishing, if somewhat waterlogged, in the new spring air, and had grown considerably since Mrs. Fitzgibbons granted me permission to grow my own tea leaves. The garden spilled down the hillside like some amorphous, sentient thing meandering downhill in the rain. Every day, it was a few steps further.

I finished a batch of balmy, herbal throat syrup and let it rest in jars. The surgery was empty, so I stepped outside to check on my many _Camellia Sinensis_, an evergreen tea plant that could wield vastly different teas depending on the maturity of the leaves when they were picked. I sighed as I surveyed the soggy bed- the neat rows I had so carefully planted had been thrown into disarray by the heavy rains of the past few days. Dark purple and charcoal clouds hung heavy in the sky like overripe fruit, promising imminent rain.

Again.

I knew I had at least a few minutes, and bent to pick some of the baby tea leaves so that I could brew a batch of white tea, highest in antioxidants, after drying them. I wanted to harvest what I could from the sodden patch before the rain started again and it became completely waterlogged, while my shoes still squelched in the mud instead of sinking in completely. A distant rumble of thunder bounced and rolled down the hills, pledging a downpour worse than what we'd had already.

I struggled to pick the tea leaves with the limited range of motion my godforsaken corset offered. Mrs. Fitzgibbons had taken my brassiere for "laund'ring and such" the day I arrived and had conveniently lost it, although I definitely found what looked like a metal clasp in the ashes of the kitchen fireplace after its glint had caught my eye.

Another gale of thunder rang out and I saw Jamie start down the hill from the stables, as if on cue, shining copper against the dark hills like a new penny at the bottom of a wishing well. I waved, awkwardly, (or, I suppose, as well as I could have, being bent ninety degrees at the waist like a bloody carpenter's square because of that sodding corset) and he flashed me a smile.

"Looking after yer wee planties, are ye, Sassenach?"

I rolled my eyes. What else would I possibly be doing, in that position? "No, I thought I might try viewing the world as a dwarf, for a bit. See how it feels." I called out, cheekily.

"And?" he called back.

"Rather sore, actually. Can't be easy on the neck for them, straining to look up all the time."

"Ye should help them, then. The dwarves, I mean. Open a second surgery, just-" he gestured with his hands, shortening an invisible object, "smaller." Another grin. Another boom of thunder, though this one sounded much closer. Jamie furrowed his brow. "Best come back inside now, Sassenach, aye?" He raised his eyebrows, tilting his head toward the clouds.

I sighed and looked out over the garden. There were probably ten more rows of baby tea leaves that needed picking before the rain, before they migrated to God knows where or were uprooted or lost in the mud.

"I need to finish before they flood."

Jamie sighed and rubbed his face. "I wasna planning on being soaked today, Claire."

"Go ahead, then," I gestured toward the castle. "I can finish by myself."

"And leave ye to th' elements by yerself?" He smiled, closed his eyes, shook his head. "No a chance. Ye'd blow away with the wind." The aforementioned wind picked up a bit and he raised his eyebrows in an unspoken "See?"

"Help me, then. It won't take very long. Just the baby leaves, leave the bigger ones alone."

"Och, the baby leaves, leave the bigger ones alone," he mocked, in an impression of my accent, while bending over to pick a leaf. "You Englishwomen and yer tea." He unceremoniously culled a leaf and showed it to me, accidentally crushed by the apparently brutish strength of Jamie's thumb and forefinger. He raised his eyebrows at the smashed leaf, limp on his thumb, "Perhaps ye'd better do it."

I smirked. "You're right useless, aren't you?" I teased.

He chuckled a bit. "Yes, Sassenach, no useful at all when I'm bone tired." He raised his eyebrows toward the castle again.

"Oh, get on with you. Go without me." I said, bending down again and making a show of the proper way to pick tea leaves: pinching at the base of the leaf, twisting, then pulling.

"Alright." He said, cheerily, but bent down and planted himself on the ground, getting comfortable. I raised my eyebrows. "I'm no leaving ye out here alone for the rain, ye'll get washed down the hillside with th' rest of yer wee planties. And if I did, no one inside would let me hear the end of it."

"Oh?"

"Aye, ev'ryone still thinks ye a bit of a flight risk." He flashed another grin at me, but I winced. It had been months since I had last tried to leave, but it was still a sore subject. I felt guilty, to be sure, that I had tried to abandon my husband.

But it was also embarrassing. I had attempted and failed at a simple course of action three times. And, _Christ_, everyone knew about it.

He still had that same big, stupid smile on his face.

"What are you smiling at?" I queried, bending again.

"You?" He said, like it was obvious. "My apologies, Sassenach. I didna know it was against the rules." A smirk.

I laughed and shook my head. I was perhaps three rows in. Another five minutes would do it. Thunder, louder than before, shook the ground I was standing on.

Jamie made to stand up. "We should go inside, _mo duinne_. I dinna want to be here when the sky opens, ye ken?" He reached for my hand.

"Two minutes." I said, moving faster.

"I highly doubt we've two minutes, Claire." He reached again. "_Mo duinne_, let's go."

I continued to work.

"Now if you won't walk, I shall pick you up and throw you over my shoulder. D'ye want me to do that?" He raised an eyebrow and smiled, intentionally quoting himself from one of our first encounters.

I smiled back, disbelievingly. "No. And I know you do, but I've got to finish before this all washes away." I was seven rows in. More thunder. The first few drops of rain speckled darker on the bed. Jamie looked at me pointedly. I shook my head. "It's just water."

Jamie crossed his arms and held his stare as the rain started to come down in sheets. Tea leaves were slipping out of my hands, sticking to my skin, my sleeves, each other. I sighed. Unable to do much more about it, I started toward the house and motioned after Jamie.

He grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks. "I thought it was just water?" he had to shout for me to hear him over the rain. Another smirk, another eyebrow raise. I was unable to respond as he seized the small of my back and pressed me to him, gathering me in and kissing me in the rain.

It was sweet and chaste and soft and warm and for the life of me, I couldn't tell you how long we were out there. Jamie's warmth mingled with the trickles of cold rain, his thumb behind my ear and the music of the thunder rolling down the hills, the squelch of mud beneath the toes I was standing on and the faint scent of semi-crushed baby tea leaves in my apron pocket.

We somehow made it back inside, greeted by a few knowing glances and smiles as we soddenly clambered up to our room.

I took off my apron, and we both laughed as we peeled soaked layers of clothing off of ourselves, off of each other. Jamie stoked the small fire, and the room took on a warm, hazy glow. We both ended up putting on two of Jamie's dry night shirts, and receded into companionable silence.

There was a small leak near the window, and Jamie thatched the roof from the inside.

I carefully wrapped twine around the stubby bits of stem on each of my tea leaves, and hung the garland of them by the fire to dry out.

Minutes passed, the room warmed up, I did not. I started feeling a bit strange. My eyes stung and my muscles were sore, and I was freezing.

"Alright, Sassenach? You're shaking." Jamie moved toward me, concerned. He pressed the back of his hand to my cheek, my forehead. "Christ. You're burning." He took my hand. "And you're ice."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm perfectly-" he arched an eyebrow. "Um. My back… hurts a bit."

He reached under the bed and pulled out a massive knitted blanket, wrapped me in it, and pulled me down to lie on top of him in bed. His hands began to break up the aching tension in my shoulders.

How strange it was that we always ended up here.

"Just water, is it, Sassenach?"

—-

Wow ok thank you for reading! Your reviews for my other story were all so sweet I felt I owed you this little sapfest. I have fun with these oneshots. Anyway, it's 4:11 AM and I'm sorry for the abrupt ending but I have class in 8 hours and my roommate is making some really weird noises in her sleep so I'm going to reread and post. Happy friday! Thank you for all the love.


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